First Birthday Cake Smash Photoshoot with one-year-old Ellia

I first met this lovely family at Caroline and Chace’s maternity photoshoot (see the photos here), followed by Ellia’s Newborn Photoshoot (see the photos here).

Back then I asked Chace what he thought would be Caroline’s biggest strengths as a new mum and he didn’t hesitate to answer: “Absolutely everything,” he told me, “Caroline will be good at everything parent-wise.”

It’s clear Chace’s confidence was well-placed, with Caroline taking to motherhood like a duck to water. She even introduced a routine for the family early on that seems to have helped Ellia settle into a really good sleep pattern (although Chace credits the chilled-out genes that Ellia has inherited from the both of them!).

Their highlight so far has been watching Ellia learn new skills like stacking blocks and starting to walk. She looks so proud and delighted with her progress each time, and that in turn lights up her mum and dad.

Caroline also loves going in to greet Ellia in the morning. Every day, Ellia responds with such an enthusiasm when she sees her mum’s face for the first time, laughing and giggling and cuddling like they’ve not seen each other for years!

Ellia loves interacting, whether that’s a game of peek-a-boo, blowing raspberries together or clapping along to the song ‘If you’re happy and you know it’, so her first birthday cake smash photoshoot with me was a lively one!

She’s also confident on her feet already, and enjoying her new-found ability to get around (which is keeping her parents on their toes, too!).

Both parents now work predominantly from home, with just the occasional day in the office. This looks set to be a permanent arrangement, and of course all those hours saved from no longer commuting means more time spent as a family.

Every time I see Caroline and Chace the weather just happens to be absolutely magnificent, and that was no different during Ellia’s birthday cake smash which took place during the mini-heatwave in September.

Luckily our photoshoot was timed for early in the day, which meant we missed the hottest hours. After our photoshoot Caroline and Ellia headed off to Cutteslowe water park while daddy got on with some work (I think the girls have the better deal, there!). Then it’s time to finalise some details for Ellia’s first birthday party later this month, which will feature some of the images from our photoshoot 🙂

At the moment the family are staying with Caroline’s parents in Oxford while they have extensive refurbishment work carried out on their Bicester home. Caroline’s parents are now retired, and it’s been amazing to have their help and company during the day, especially as they are so besotted with little Ellia! Caroline predicts that once the family move into their own home the grandparents will enjoy the peace and quiet for the first few days, and then miss the pitter patter of tiny feet soon after that!

Happily, they are not too far away and have these photos to remind them of their perfect little granddaughter between visits 🙂

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If you’d like to book your child’s first birthday cake smash photoshoot, or if you have any questions about family photography with me, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning, qualified, professional family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).